A 9-year-old named Ralphie Parker and his single-minded quest to get a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas have been entertaining audiences for 30 years in the screen comedy "A Christmas Story."

Avid fans of the movie, which was filmed in Cleveland, are directed this holiday season to the Cleveland Play House, where a live-action version of Ralphie's misadventures opens Friday.

About the enduring popularity of "A Christmas Story," Cleveland Play House artistic director Laura Kepley said, "It's a story that transports us back to our childhood, no matter what era we grew up in. It is silly, fun and nostalgic, but at its core, it reminds us of our own families and let's the childhood delight of the season live in our hearts once again."

John McCluggage, who is directing this Cleveland production, said there's abundant reason to see the play, even though the movie is readily available on TV.

"First of all, there's nothing like live theater and sharing that experience with 500 other people," said McCluggage, who previously directed "A Christmas Story" in Missouri, California, New Hampshire and New York. "I prefer the stage version. It's much more immediate, obviously, and the young actors bring a particular joie de vivre that's palpable."

LOCAL BOY IS RALPHIE

A major local angle to the show is the actor starring as Ralphie — Matthew Taylor, age 12, of Jackson Township.

"This is definitely the most fun I've ever had in a show," said Taylor, a sixth-grader at Jackson Middle School and a seasoned actor with multiple regional credits. "I get to fight with Scut Farkus. I get to wear the bunny suit. My favorite is the soap scene when (Ralphie's mother) puts the soap in my mouth, and I have to act it out."

"Matthew is a terrific kid. He brings a wonderful energy," McCluggage said. "When he auditioned, I found out he actually played Ralphie's younger brother, Randy, when the playhouse did the show two years ago. He's graduated to playing the lead role. He has an hour commute to the theater after a full day of school, and I respect that so much. He's onstage virtually the entire time."

Matthew's mother, Julie Taylor, said he's become "very casual" about the demands of theater, after appearing in productions at the Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Magical Theatre Company and Canton Players Guild. "But when it's time to walk in and do his audition, he's serious and he turns it on. It's been neat to see him grow like this." She gives major thanks to his teachers, who have worked with Matthew, a straight-A student, to accommodate his frequent absences due to theater work.

Matthew, who has the same manager as the Jonas Brothers, said he'd like to be a full-time actor one day. "I guess my Plan B is to be a doctor," he said.

Page 2 of 2 - DIFFERENT THAN MOVIE

The set for the Cleveland Play House's "A Christmas Story" incorporates "what we call doughnut revolve," Kepley said. "It allows for a 360 degree look at the iconic house on Cleveland Street." The house revolves on one turntable, and the separate outer "doughnut" delivers furniture, the family car and a tree.

"There's a challenge in adapting a film, which can be shot on location anywhere, for the stage," McCluggage said. "But what the theater does better than any other art form is it allows the audience to use their imagination." The fantasy sequences, including the jungle fantasy, the desperadoes and a teacher who turns into a wicked witch, "are not nearly as charming in the movie as they are onstage," he said. "There's even a little love interest for Ralphie that's nowhere in the movie."

And there is, of course, the Cleveland angle. "I think 'A Christmas Story' is especially resonant here because Ralphie's house is here (see accompanying story), and Cleveland has rightful ownership of the movie," McCluggage said. "Cleveland is a major city, but from my experiences here, it's a big small town."